The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Uhh..." the elf groaned as she awoke, turning her head to glance around.

Her gaze finally landed on Neraxis, who was merely playing with a rock on the ground, tossing it as far as he could.

"How long was I out for?" she asked, puzzled.

Neraxis finally took notice of her. "Hmm? Eleven seconds, give or take a second."

"..." She stared at him for a moment in silence before letting out a sigh.

Just as she was about to complain, she finally noticed that, after his healing, her body was back to full health.

Neraxis could assume there was some sort of healing factor for everyone, but maybe the wolf had an effect that prevented her injuries from healing.

Nonetheless, she slowly gathered her bearings and stood up, stretching her aching back and then glancing back at him.

"Thank you for catching me," she said plainly. "I saw you right before I passed out. Had you not caught me, I'd likely have splattered on the ground, and... you know."

Probably not. She's pretty strong, Neraxis thought with a chuckle before nodding. "No problem. Though I'm a bit curious. What level is that wolf you talked about?"

"Level? I think it was around level 40 or so," she replied, and as she noticed he was in thought, she decided to introduce herself.

"I'm Elena, by the way."

"Neraxis," he said. "So I guess killing that thing is still a long shot."

"Yes, but if you manage to kill its underlings, then the wolf gets weaker. Or so I'm told," Elena added.

He rolled his eyes. "And instead of dealing with them first, you went straight for the wolf?"

Elena flinched. "I-It was a waste of time! I was already strong enough to deal with it, but it only caught me off guard is all."

"Right..." Neraxis replied in disbelief as he too stood up and began walking back to where he came from.

The blood trail served as a compass, and frankly, he didn't exactly want to deal with this elf.

After all, he already had one annoying elf on his shoulders, and that was Eris. Or rather, two Erises.

If this girl turns into a third Eris, I'm going to lose my fucking mind, Neraxis thought and kept walking.

But it didn't take a genius to know that despite her initial disinterest, she began trailing him from a distance.

A small frown appeared on his face as he dashed behind a tree and then swiftly scaled it to the very top.

Yet as he looked down, trying to find her, she was nowhere to be seen.

Just as he thought he might've lost her, he felt a single warm breath on the base of his neck.

Neraxis turned around, startled. The moment he did, he found himself staring into her emerald eyes.

There was a moment of silence, but he soon broke it.

"What are you doing?"

"Lurking," Elena replied matter-of-factly.

"...And why are you lurking?"

"No reason. You're the first person I've seen in the forest in a long time. Can't blame me for being curious."

Neraxis sighed. "Can't you be curious from a distance then? My friends and I are currently exploring this place and trying to level up..."

He trailed off as an idea sprang into his mind.

"But..." he grinned. "If you could point me in the direction of a level 10 monster spot, then I'm willing to let you follow me."

"Level 10...? Okay?" Elena tilted her head as she closed her eyes.

Then, he felt a wave of mana emerge from her. It was faint, but at the same time, it managed to sense the entirety of the forest in an instant.

Elena merely glanced back at him and pointed south.

"Level 10 ghouls that way. They thrive on flesh, but since there aren't many people around here most of the time, they're starved," Elena explained, scratching her cheek. "That also means they're going to try killing you on sight."

"Doesn't sound very fun," Neraxis remarked as he jumped down, and without even waiting for her, began running south.

Of course, he didn't have to wonder where she was, as he could hear the rustling of bushes and leaves, which meant she was likely not too far behind.

But for an elf who claimed to be a mage, she sure was damn fast.

Nonetheless, after a few minutes of running, Neraxis finally arrived at the place she had mentioned a moment ago.

And just as she said, there were a few ghouls scattered around, and they were definitely not friendly.

—(x11) Rotten Ghoul [Enraged] (Level 12)

It's pretty strong... Neraxis thought with an amused look as he jumped back onto a tree branch.

Elena had already been sitting on the branch, and now she was just rocking her feet back and forth, humming some random tune.

He ignored her for the time being and opened his status screen before adjusting his stats accordingly.

Name: Neraxis Valen

Age: 18

Level: 5 → 8

Class: Sun Vampire (Mythic)

—Stats:

HP: 50/50 → 110/110

MP: 250/250

Strength: 17 (+12)

Agility: 17 (+12)

Stamina: 5 → 11

Mana Capacity: 25

Free Stat Points: 6 → 0

—Skills:

Arksteel (Legendary)

—Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (4/???)

Advanced Horizontal Slash (Epic)

Expert Stab (Rare)

Atomic Stab (Rare)

Illusion Slash (Rare)

+-----+

He put some points into Stamina to raise his HP. After all, he had nearly died earlier from the lizardmen's damage alone.

And these things were much higher level, so he had to make sure to be careful.

Neraxis focused and then glanced toward the ghouls.

As she had said, they were definitely ugly.

Mouths hanging, arms covered in dozens of deep, horrid wounds, and the smell of rotten flesh definitely didn't fail to catch his attention.

As ridiculous as they looked, he had no choice but to kill them here, level up, and move on.

Therefore, that was exactly what he did.

Neraxis leaped downward, summoned his Arksteel sword, and without wasting any time, approached the ghouls.